I purchased the Rockler Pro Shelf Drilling Jig because I needed a reliable way to dill 1/4" and 5 mm shelf pin holes for my shelving and cabinets. In the past I made my own jig and found it to be woefully inadequate.

I purchased the Rockler Pro Shelf Drilling Jig because I needed a reliable way to dill 1/4" and 5 mm shelf pin holes for my shelving and cabinets. In the past I made my own jig and found it to be woefully inadequate.

The ability to do both sides at once and have exact spacing is critical. I have the single side jig and even though you think you have it lined up perfectly it can still be just a bit off making your shelf not level.

The ability to do both sides at once and have exact spacing is critical. I have the single side jig and even though you think you have it lined up perfectly it can still be just a bit off making your shelf not level.

BEST ANSWER:pair your two cabinet sides together and put spacers in along the rails to decrease the hole offset from the edge - work the layout from the center line. Do both line of holes then switch mating edges of cabinet pieces and repeat.

BEST ANSWER:pair your two cabinet sides together and put spacers in along the rails to decrease the hole offset from the edge - work the layout from the center line. Do both line of holes then switch mating edges of cabinet pieces and repeat.

Can you drill holes in the center of the panel in order to mount drawer slides? In other words can you drill 3 rows of holes, one on the front 32mm in one in the middle (any multiple of 32mm) and one on the end, so you can have 3 mount holes for a drawer slide.

BEST ANSWER:The metal guide bars attach to the clear acrylic with three screws. Temporarily removing one of the guide bars allows you to place one template anywhere you want on your work piece while using the remaining bar to index to the side.

BEST ANSWER:The metal guide bars attach to the clear acrylic with three screws. Temporarily removing one of the guide bars allows you to place one template anywhere you want on your work piece while using the remaining bar to index to the side.

The jig is made to fit along the outside edges of the board or shelving piece. It can be extended to the maximum width by adjusting the wing nuts. If you need to come in on one side to drill a column that is further in than the jig allows or if you need to drill on a board wider than the jig then there is no easy way I know of to do this.

I have run into the width issue and here is how I solved it. Set up the jig and mark and drill one side. Measure and draws a line where you want the second row. Use a T-square to align the bottom of the hole from the first column, drilled using the jig, and mark where to drill on the second column. Continue this until all the desired holes are marked then drill.

BEST ANSWER:Hi Amy, if you use a hard wood, you can use the drilling jig on 1/ 2 thick wood. You might not get a good hole depth for the pegs to support the shelf . What is the length of the shelf and what are you going to put on the shelf,will depend if it will work. hope this helps

BEST ANSWER:Hi Amy, if you use a hard wood, you can use the drilling jig on 1/ 2 thick wood. You might not get a good hole depth for the pegs to support the shelf . What is the length of the shelf and what are you going to put on the shelf,will depend if it will work. hope this helps

Yes it does. I use it for all my custom cabinets that have 1/2" plywood boxes. It does a great job. You will need to place the piece you are drilling on top of another piece of plywood to hold jig up because the jig is thicker than 1/2"

BEST ANSWER:No. I would and have used it before I put the face frame on. You might try the other jig that only does one row at a time. Alignment might be tricky but if you measure and mark right it will be fine. Jig is also less expensive. Good luck

BEST ANSWER:No. I would and have used it before I put the face frame on. You might try the other jig that only does one row at a time. Alignment might be tricky but if you measure and mark right it will be fine. Jig is also less expensive. Good luck

BEST ANSWER:You are pulling the drill bit out to fast, before the bit has time to fully clean the hole out, let the bit rotate a little longer in the hole before you lift up, might try running a strip of tape down. pine is tricky try reducing drill speed. Let me know if this helps

Thanks, Tammy. Taking a little more time and taping did the trick. I still had a few that tore out but overalll a much cleaner outcome. I think in the future maybe I'll stay away from pine and use something a little more dense. Thanks for your help.

BEST ANSWER:You are pulling the drill bit out to fast, before the bit has time to fully clean the hole out, let the bit rotate a little longer in the hole before you lift up, might try running a strip of tape down. pine is tricky try reducing drill speed. Let me know if this helps

Thanks, Tammy. Taking a little more time and taping did the trick. I still had a few that tore out but overalll a much cleaner outcome. I think in the future maybe I'll stay away from pine and use something a little more dense. Thanks for your help.

BEST ANSWER:This is a drilling jig not a router jig. While I am sure someone clever could possibly repurpose it I doubt it would be more efficient for the stated purpose. The drill is precise to the holes and makes the holes the size of available pins. To try to get a template guide/router bit combination would be difficult. Also trying to line up the template with each individual hole would be slow and difficult. I suspect you are seeing it as a way to route in metal shelf standards rather than pin holes directly into the wood itself.

BEST ANSWER:This is a drilling jig not a router jig. While I am sure someone clever could possibly repurpose it I doubt it would be more efficient for the stated purpose. The drill is precise to the holes and makes the holes the size of available pins. To try to get a template guide/router bit combination would be difficult. Also trying to line up the template with each individual hole would be slow and difficult. I suspect you are seeing it as a way to route in metal shelf standards rather than pin holes directly into the wood itself.

Reviews

I had the regular jig it system and was generally pleased with it. I started building more cabinets and wanted to ensure that the holes were lining up more easily so I sprung for the pro version. I had thought that the jig would ensure all the holes were square to the piece &amp; each other as well as evenly spaced. While assembling it I realized that there is some play in the assembly rails and you MUST ENSURE TO SQUARE THE JIG before you assemble it. It is not set up to be square automatically. This is not the biggest deal to me since you should be checking for square anyway. My main problem with the jig is it doesn't stay clamped or close to the work piece. You can tighten the knobs so they stay close to the sides but it will move up and down the piece. I ruined my first piece because I didn't know this and the holes ended up not being aligned. The plastic that the jig is made out of also flexes too much. When using the self centering bit that is made for the jig, the bit catches in the plastic and pulls it up off of the work-piece, also resulting in movement and non-aligned holes. The plastic has also taken quite a beating from the bit in just the 3-4 uses it has had so far. Every time the bit hits the plastic, it gets gouged causing a small rut. right now it is ok, but with another couple of uses I expect the depth to be affected. The guides should have been made of metal, or at least have had aluminum bushings to protect the holes. Overall I think it's a helpful jig, but I don't believe it will hold up, and for this price, it should be built better. You can really just use a pegboard..

The main problem with the original JIG IT shelf drilling template is that even with the jig clamped onto the work piece it is difficult to prevent the front row of holes becoming misaligned with the rear row of holes. This is caused by the centring action of the self centring drill bit which will slightly move the jig out of position. The problem is not so apparent with short runs of 30 inches or so but over longer distances when the jig has to be repositioned several times serious misalignment can occur between front and rear holes. The problem is magnified when drilling the larger holes required for shelf pin sleeves since the shelf pin is not an exact fit in the drilled hole and consequently the jig cannot be positioned precisely as drilling proceeds along the work piece. Happily Rockler's Pro Shelf Drilling Jig has completely overcome the shortcomings of the older JIG IT system. The new jig guarantees 100% accuracy by using two parallel jigs which in combination with machined index pins ensure that the jig's accuracy is always maintained whatever the length of the workpiece and there is no need for clamps. So well done Rockler!! A shelf drilling jig in the UK can cost $240 so the Pro Shelf Drilling Jig at $80 even with shipping and UK import taxes is still excellent value.

My original shelf pin jig was a a single sided from Eagle America (similar to the Rocklerjig-it shelf jig) I used with my plunge router 3/8" bushing & a 1/4" upcut bit. it was time to up grade to a faster system so I got the Rockler PRO jig and I use it the same way with my plunge router perfect holes all the time.. I wish it was a little longer so I could do more holes at a time. I Love this jig

This shelf pin drilling jig is a very nice unit and very accurate, the only problems I have had with it is when drilling 1/2" stock the drill bit comes through a little bit so you have to put a shim between the glass and the board to eliminate that and also if you do very much drilling as I do you may as well go ahead and order more drill bits cause the spring gets distorted and does not work properly.

I've had this jig for about a tear now and am fairly satisfied with it. However, the clear plastic has some wear from the bit spinning on it and is about to wear through. Would be a much better product if the clear plastic was replaced with something harder that wouldn't wear so easily. Or, have replacement parts. Going to have to buy a new one I guess

I had the choice of this one that braces to both sides of the board or the one sided brace. Sure the one sided one probably works just as well, but with brace there is no question, the holes line up perfectly. Be sure to buy the appropriate bit that goes with it. I bought the 1/4" pro drilling bit. All works great and I would recommend this jig.

Just used my new toy for the first time this weekend. We will see how well i did soon. It was very easy to line up the holes over 2 boards. This tool makes it easy to align up the holes and move down the board with ease.

Everything lines up perfectly with absolutely no effort. Yes a bit steep on the price but the time you save. On a 9 foot by 4 ft bookshelf i was done drilling in less then 5 minutes and everything was dead on level. Not real sure how anyone could screw this thing up. Rockler makes the average woodworker feel like a pro again!

This Rockler Pro Shelf Drilling Jig is very sturdy and well made. It is easy to use and extremely accurate. Makes drilling perfect shelf pin holes super fast. Just be sure to get the drill bit assembly that is sold separately.

Well made. Sturdy supports, PERFECT alignment every time. With this jig you will never have to worry about front and back alignment again. A 7' run of holes remains exact from top to bottom. Drilling shelf pin support holes now takes moments. It is well worth the extra cost of the jig. The Pro self centering drill is required for this jig.

Precise, easy to use, what more can I say? For layout of holes, the jig is solid and allows precise placement. the final shelves have zero tilt to them - For the little extra cost, this is hands down the best jig I have seen.

My partner and I had a project of building a book case 8' long and 7' high to be built in 3 units. So there was lots of hole to be bored. We decided to get the Pro Shelf Drilling Jig and we have to say it worked great. Once we had the spacing of the holes marked on the jig we were all done in lest then a half hour. Concerns: The drill bit. Two things that we had concerns with. One: The depth of the bit. Some clips are not all the same in length and just a shad longer and the clips done set all the way. Would it be possible to have an adjustment? Two: We were using 3/4" Birch ply for the book case. We noticed that the bit tore the wood at the opening of the hole. We tried various methods to prevent this with no luck. Would a Forstner bit be better or a different design on existing? Yes I would recommend the Pro Drilling Jig

Wow? This Jig sure did the work and saved me time! Once I put it together, It took me about 30 minutes to precisely drill 2 lower cabinet and 2 upright cabinet units with no...NO hick-ups. Thanks for the great JIG.

This jig has saved me a lot of time doing this chore on several cabinets. It is simple and very easy to use. One reviewer said the holes melted. well he must have used a very high speed drill because I didn't have any trouble. I would recommend this jig for the task.

This is a well thought out jig that you could make yourself except to make it as well it would cost you a lot in time and materials and for this price I say spend your time on other things, plus there are some nice features like the locator pins and their storage in the rail ends. One small though significant point; The piloting drill bit that you use with this jig when it inserts into the plexiglass hole it almost bottoms out on the work piece so that any debris in the hole gets spun around and can mar the surface of veneer or pre-finished panels - it requires constant care for that not to happen. They need to make the bit with a more shallow engagement or less likely to spin when inserted.

I have been using the other jig it shelfing jig made by Rockler and loved it. Once I seen this one I bought it right away. Opened box and realized that the two jigs use drill bits that look the same but are different drill bits. This one has holes in the jig that are slightly larger so if you use the other drill bit from the shelving jig it will wobble in the pro jig. So please don't assume like I did that they use the same drill bit. You must buy the pro drill bit for the pro jig. Luckily I checked my old bit with the pro jig before drilling. Now I just have to wait for the correct drill bit to arrive before using it. Perfect tool for the smaller shop like mine that doesn't have the budget or space for a large line boring machine.